Lampard questions penalty calls as Coventry fall to Everton defeat
Coventry boss Frank Lampard argued his side should have had a penalty for a hair pull and disputed two other key decisions in their 3-1 loss at Everton, while David Moyes defended the handball ruling and criticised the hair-pull rule.
Coventry manager Frank Lampard believes his side should have been awarded a penalty for a hair pull during their 3-1 defeat at Everton on Friday. James Tarkowski tugged Caleb Yirenkyi's hair while jumping for the ball, but referee Stuart Attwell dismissed the visitors' appeals. Lampard said officials judged the pull insufficient, adding that he accepts the rule is not a red card but still felt it constituted a foul.
The incident was one of three decisions Coventry disputed. Lampard also argued Taiwo Awoniyi was fouled by Vitalii Mykolenko before Yann Gboho gave Coventry the lead after the break, though replays indicated the contact occurred outside the box. He further claimed Thierno Barry handled the ball before his second goal, but the video assistant referee ruled there was no handball offence.
Everton came from behind to win, with Barry scoring twice and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall adding a late goal. The result left Coventry 16th in the Premier League and moved Everton up to fifth. Lampard said that while he could not claim all three decisions should have gone his side's way, one or two would clearly have changed the game.
Everton boss David Moyes denied Barry handled the ball and said his team had also seen plenty of decisions go against them. He argued the hair-pull rule, relaxed this season so that not every pull is automatically a red card, remains flawed and should be fixed.
Analysis of the match suggested Coventry had a strong case for a penalty over the Tarkowski hair pull, with the VAR possibly focusing on a possible handball in the same move. The Mykolenko challenge on Awoniyi appeared to occur outside the area, where VAR cannot award a free-kick. The Barry goal was more contentious, with the VAR deciding there was insufficient conclusive proof that the ball touched his hand, though the footage suggested a change of direction after contact. On balance, Coventry could feel aggrieved about two of the three calls.
